Outside the EU it took an average of 143 days for a DNA match to be returned. In the EU it takes 15 minutes.

We can check fingerprints in 24 hours, vehicle registration in 10 seconds: and we have the advantage of the European Arrest Warrant bringing criminals to justice quickly from whichever EU country they try to escape to.

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Britain led the way in establishing a single market of half a billion consumers all able to buy the products of British companies as if they lived here.

Since its creation in the 1980s our wealth has grown enormously.

But if countries could compete in this market by abandoning paid holidays or forcing long hours on their workforce they would gain an unfair advantage.

If we turn our back on the biggest commercial market in the world, we will create turmoil and uncertainty.

Alan Johnson says Britain is more secure in the EU (Image: Getty)

Far from gaining control we lessen it; over trade, the economy, our security and yes on immigration.

Free movement is an essential part of the single market in Europe as it is in the four nations of the UK.

But the majority of immigration comes from outside the EU and the biggest threat we face comes not from free movement of people paying taxes and contributing more than they take out; it’s from illegal immigration into a black economy of fear and exploitation.

Membership of the EU is essential to tackling these problems.

We strengthened the border at our most vulnerable point by effectively moving it across the Channel from Dover to Calais.

The UK borders are safer in the EU (Image: Getty)

If we leave the EU this arrangement is bound to be scrapped.

We also have the protection of something called the Dublin accord requiring asylum seekers to register in the first EU country they set foot in.

We deport thousands for not complying. We lose this EU protection if we leave.

As for possible Turkish accession, we have an absolute veto over whether any country joins the EU. if we remain.

Such a decision is unlikely to arise for decades but if we leave, we have no input, no control.

The EU is not something that’s done to us. Britain has played a significant and influential role since we joined.

Turning from our friends and allies and walking off into isolation in an increasingly inter-dependent world would endanger our economy, our security and Britain’s influence in the world.

That’s why the Labour Party is campaigning so hard for a ‘Remain’ vote.